My thoughts about stuff--leadership, worship, life, and where we're going

Thursday, April 16, 2020

Today must be Saturday

Most Americans are rallying around the concept of social distancing and staying home to do our part so that the healthcare system is not overloaded and can tend to those stricken with COVID-19. Of course there's a bit of selfishness in the seemingly altruistic approach--we don't want the healthcare system overloaded in case we need it!

Before CoronavirusWaikiki Beach, HawaiiSeptember 11, 2019

Here are some numbers to show how Americans in general are complying. An article in The Wall Street Journal lays out the impact of the stay-at-home orders on the travel industry. The article, The Devastated Travel Industry, by the Numbers really brought home for me the impact of complying with the stay-at-home orders. Some of the numbers from that article:Number of TSA passengers screened on April 12: 90,510; same day of the week one year ago: 2.4 million.Hotel occupancy on Oahu: 7 percent. One year ago: 90.7 percent.Percent of passengers Delta Airlines is flying on a typical day compared to its normal load: 5 percent.

American Airlines TailPhoenix, AZSeptember 11, 2019

United Airlines departures from San Francisco daily: 50, the plan was for 300.United Airlines departures from Newark daily: 16, the plan was for 400. (An April 25th flight upon which I had a ticket to Rome, Italy, is one of those canceled)61 Year record broken: American Airlines flew its first transcontinental flight, nonstop between New York and Los Angeles, on Jan. 25, 1959. JFK-LAX had remained in American’s schedule ever since, until now. (There were cancellations for storms, 9/11 and other disruptions, but the flights remained in the schedule.) Number of JFK-LAX nonstops in current American schedule: Zero.The impact is phenomenal. And remember, the cruise ships are not sailing. I don't have numbers for the impact there--but the bottom line is that most Americans, except in Michigan, are staying home. I cannot fathom why the people of Michigan do not get the seriousness of the stay-at-home orders--too soon they likely will need the services of the healthcare system that they overloaded. See Michigan drivers jam capital to protest coronavirus stay-at-home order.Good for the rest of us. Staying home is hard, but I realized this morning that it is Saturday. And so is tomorrow. And the day after, and probably the day after. Now I wonder, will Monday ever come again?-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD